Q-Cells establishes endowed chair at Halle University
Moves to increase the profile of photovoltaics as a research and teaching area
Q-Cells AG, Europe`s largest manufacturer of solar cells, is establishing an endowed chair in photovoltaics at Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). An agreement to this end was signed by the partners today at the Q-Cells plant in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. The aim is to increase the profile of photovoltaics in science as an independent research and teaching area, and to develop further and expand the role of Saxony-Anhalt as one of the most important centres of photovoltaics in the world.
Q-Cells AG will fund the endowed chair and meet staffing costs to the tune of a total of Euro 750,000 over five years. The chair will be established at the Institute of Physics of Martin Luther University, and is to be advertised shortly.
"If a research-intensive technology company such as Q-Cells AG is to maintain its competitive edge, there must be a new generation of highly-skilled young scientists waiting in the wings," said Dr. Hartmut Schüning, CFO and Head of Human Resources of Q-Cells AG at the press conference. "With a chair in photovoltaics right on our doorstep, we can make our own contribution to training the scientists who will build on our technological pre-eminence in the future."
When the agreement was signed, Prof. Dr. Wulf Diepenbrock, Vice-Chancellor of Martin Luther University, made the following comments: "The teaching and research profile of the MLU is opening it up to regional growth industries in the field of photovoltaics. Businesses in the surrounding area are recognising increasingly that their local university, with its many fields of expertise, can work closely together with industry in supplying innovative research and the most highly-skilled personnel in their field."
With the Q-Cells endowed chair in photovoltaics, Natural Sciences Faculty II of Martin Luther University is adding a highly topical issue to its research and teaching programme. The structural plan envisages further appointments in associated fields in the next few years. A course in photovoltaics will be offered as early as this winter semester, and from the 2008/2009 winter semester, a Master`s degree course will be available. "Photovoltaics will soon be a core subject in our faculty," notes the Dean, Prof. Dr. Heinrich Graener. "If one also takes into account the planned research centre for silicon photovoltaics at the Fraunhofer Society in Halle, it won`t be long before the region can boast an entire coordinated chain of activities, from teaching to research and development and production. This will open up completely new avenues for cooperation which will benefit us all."
October 22th, 2007
Contacts:
Prof. Dr. Heinrich Graener
Dean of Natural Sciences Faculty II of Martin Luther University
Tel.: 0049-345-5525310
graener@physik.uni-halle.de
Stefan Dietrich
Head of Public Relations, Q-Cells AG
Tel.: 0049-3494-6699-10121
presse@q-cells.com